To keep me going throughout the morning, I usually have a pot of tea prepared, ready for pouring again and again. I will have two, maybe three cups of hot (not piping) black tea – made with a teabag and a glug of milk. It is something I make and drink by myself. My own morning ritual.
But in West African countries like Senegal, Mauritania and Gambia the Ataya tea ceremony is a social affair. It’s the collective making, pouring and most importantly the chat and banter that gets the event going. To be honest, drinking tea is often a communal activity in Africa – an accompaniment to a gathering of friends and family. And it takes time. Time for the tea to steep and create its magical flavours and time connect and share and exchange with your host or guest.
If you are going to follow the African example and host a tea party, then you will have to provide more than a tea bag dunked in a mug of hot water. Let’s look to the corners of the continent for some inspiration.
North and West Africa
From the harsh desert of Morocco to the rolling plains and savannah of Senegal, a refreshing cup or two of minty green tea is commonplace. These places are connected by the Arab traders who traversed the Sahara in centuries past, sharing their customs as well as their wares. Therefore, it is no surprise to find similarities in the rituals and ceremonies surrounding the serving of tea. You will notice though, that the formal, business-like nature of the ceremony in Morocco is replaced by convivial repartee further west.
You could serve tea by itself, but often it comes as the perfect digestif to a meal. If you want to be really authentic, you need to set aside enough time for three rounds of tea. This will allow the conversation to flow and food to settle. You should make the first round strong, steeping the prewashed gunpowder green tea for several minutes before serving. The second round is going to be freshened with mint leaves and made sweet, oh so sweet, with spoonfuls of sugar. And for the third round, you can make a weaker strength tea, with even more sugar, to send your guests on their way.
But the drama of the ceremony comes in the serving and the pouring of the tea. To really impress your guests you should have a beautifully engraved berrad (metal teapot), a metal tray and medium-sized decorated glasses. You may not prepare the tea in front of your guests, as custom dictates, but you will need to pour it. And what an art pouring is! With the teapot raised twelve inches or so high, you must aim down for the glass and then, in an up-and-down swooshing motion create a two-centimetre layer of foam on top of the minty tea. Mmm, this may take a bit of practice.
East Africa
Over on the East Coast of Africa, a wander through the narrow streets of a Swahili town such as Lamu, Old Town Mombasa or Zanzibar will take you back to a time. A time when Arab, Indian, Persian, and Chinese traders came to their shores bringing spices, pottery and cloths. The Swahili people took on board the use of spice not only incorporating into food but into tea and coffee as well. This produced a fiery yet strangely refreshing masala chai (spiced tea) and kahawa chungu (spiced coffee) – their trademark offering to guests.
There may not be a ritual in serving the masala chai but the ceremony comes in the manner of the invitation. Traditional Swahili houses are built for meeting and greeting with reclining stone benches either side of the impressively carved exterior wooden doors. Here, neighbours pass the time discussing events in the community with each other and passers-by in the street. Life is lived on the streets.
But if you are invited through those doors and into the inner courtyard, you are being welcomed to further a conversation, maybe do a little business. You are now a guest. And you may well find that a few hours have passed and you have drunk a few cups of something hot and sweet before you pass the threshold again. So, to embrace the Swahili tradition, make sure your invitation has a purpose and be sure to offer a cup of masala chai to your guest.
And to create the masala chai? Use a good Kenyan black tea, a loose tea that can be boiled in a pan with water and milk. Be a spice mixologist and try different amounts of cardamom, nutmeg, black pepper, cinnamon, cloves or ginger to make your own distinct masala blend. With the spices added, allow a few minutes on the heat for the flavours to unfurl before tipping into a thermos flask to keep piping hot. Now that the chai is ready, you can get down to discussing that important matter with your guest.
What other types of African tea do you enjoy? Have you tried other African teas like Rooibos or Purple tea?
